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1 Torsten Feys licentiate thesis for obtaining a master in History year Professor Eric Vanhaute Contemporary History Gent University The emigration policy of the Belgian government from Belgium to the U.S. through the port of Antwerp

2 Table of content Foreword 6 Introduction 7 Part I: Belgian emigration to the United States: Chapter I: The causes for the active emigration policy to the U.S.A. by the Belgian government 1.1) The rise of German emigration through the port of Antwerp ) The big rural crisis ) Emigration as a solution for the crisis ) The report of baron Auguste Vanderstraeten-Ponthoz ) The fight against the crisis ) Conclusion 28 Chapter II: The agricultural colonies Sainte-Marie and Kansas 2.1) The initiative taken by the government de Theux 2.1.1) The content of the project ) The search for the appropriate location ) Sainte-Marie 2.2.1) The realization of the project under Rogier ) The provisional agreement and the expeditions from Victor De Ham and A.Moxhet ) The agreement between De Ham and Rogier ) The founding of New Flanders by De Ham ) New Flanders desertion ) The financial deficit ) Cartuyvels and his New Brussels ) Kansas 2.3.1) The settlement of Dirckx ) Maguis, Guinotte and Cie ) The foundation of Kansas ) Conclusion 54 2

3 Chapter III: Belgium helps his beggars, ex-convicts and convicts to emigrate 3.1) The elaboration of the network 3.1.1) Beggar workhouses or beggar colonies ) The increasing pressure on the government to get rid of the unwanted part of the population ) The network founded in Antwerp ) The expansion of the network on national level ) The expansion of the network to prisoners and ex- convicts ) The first problems ) The Rochambeau case ) The collapse of the network 3.2.1) Restrictive measures ) The search for alternatives: Brazil and Canada ) New difficulties ) Conclusion 89 Chapter IV: The new emigration policy of Vilain XIIII 4.1) The Belgian colony in Wisconsin 4.1.1) The origin and evolution of the colony ) The standpoint of the government towards the colony ) The parliamentary debates concerning emigration 4.2.1) The session of February 5 th 1852: the evaluation of the special credit of 1,000,000fr ) Session of May 9 th 1854: debate on the budget of the Ministry of Justice ) The session of April 7 th 1856: debate concerning the governmental emigration policy ) Public Limited Companies 4.3.1) Le Phare ) The position of the government towards similar associations ) Conclusion 111 Chapter V: The American Civil War and the decline of the port of Antwerp 3

4 5.1) The American Civil War 5.1.1) The influence of the Civil War ( ) on emigration ) The recruitment of mine workers by Dochez ) Belgians doing military service in the federal government ) The decrease of the emigration movement 5.2.1) The deterioration of the port of Antwerp ) Critics on the emigration policy ) Henri Olin ) Charles le Hardy de Beaulieu ) The letters from Decorte ) Some reflections on the three authors ) What happened after the Civil War? 5.3.1) Adolphe Strauss and the Guiseppe Baccarcich case ) New shipments of detainees in beggar workhouses to the U.S. by Strauss ) Conclusion 140 Part II: The Belgian non-intervention policy regarding the Belgian emigration to the United States between Chapter I : The revival of the Belgian emigration at the outbreak of new a crisis during the 1880 s 1.1) Industrial expansion leads to a new crisis ) The Red Star Line and the revival of the port of Antwerp ) The tightening of the American immigration laws 1.3.1) The Knights of Labour ) The American laws restricting immigration: the Alien Contract Labour Law ) The glassworkers from Charleroi ) The diamond workers ) Reflections on the emigration movement and the attitude of the government towards it ) Cartuyvels ) Martel ) Navez ) The interpretation of the different publications 159 4

5 1.5) The position of the Belgian government towards emigration: providing information 1.5.1) The Belgian emigration policy ) The reaction of the Belgian government towards the Alien contract labour law ) The insufficient efforts of the government to provide the emigrants with information ) The Saint-Raphael Society ) The economic crisis in the United States ) Conclusion 175 Chapter II: The passive attitude of the catholic government towards the increasing emigration movement 2.1) Introduction ) The increasing restrictive measures on immigration into the United States 2.2.1) The amendments of ) The amendment of the 20 th of February ) The White Slave Traffic Act July 25 th 1910 and Dillingham Project ) The international congress for the worldwide economical expansion: ) American states try to lure Belgian emigrants ) Louisiana ) Colorado ) South Carolina ) The southern states after ) The influence of the Belgian Catholic Church ) The standpoint of the government and the political parties towards emigration 214 Conclusion 219 Bibliography 224 5

6 Foreword After finishing high school I moved to the U.S. as a Rotary exchange student. I stayed in Pagosa Springs, a small mountain town in southwestern Colorado. I quickly learned how mobile Americans are. In spite of being a small town, I met people from all over the country, from Iowa to Louisiana, Hawaii to Alaska. That most of the people I met still knew there origins surprised me the most. People always told me with a certain pride: I am 1/8 th German, 1/4 th Swedish, 1/16 th Polish, etc. Would the people I met have inherited the mobility of their forefathers? However to my surprise I never met any American with Belgian roots in Pagosa. Three years later I learned that I was at the wrong place to meet Americans with Belgians roots. I travelled through the U.S. and Canada and stayed for a while in Windsor with a Belgian family who had immigrated there fifty years ago. They introduced me to the Belgian community of the area. I learned about the Gazette van Detroit, joined the Belgians club of Windsor for their annual pick-nick, and got fascinated by people s stories about crossing the Atlantic during the first half of the 20 th century. However these clubs will not exist for much longer. Meanwhile, the second generation feels more Canadian than Belgian. My interest for emigration history comes from with this experience. Originally I wanted to write my licentiate s thesis about Belgians who emigrated to the U.S. and Canada, but this seemed to be a bit too ambitious. I had to limit my research to the Belgian emigration to the U.S. With this I also want to express my gratitude to some people who collaborated during my research. First of all I want to thank my promoter, Professor Eric Vanhaute. He was always available to answer my questions. Every time I walked into his office with some doubts and questions about the project, I walked out with a good portion of self-confidence and motivation. I also want to thank the personnel of the archives of the ministry of Foreign affairs, the Albertina library, and the Center for American studies. Furthermore I want to thank Jeroen Storme, Dieter Van de Putte and Frederick Derck who corrected the original Dutch version of this study. Moreover I want to thank Gunther Vanneste for sharing his flat with me while I was doing my archive research in Brussels. A very special thanks goes out to Vaughn Curd for editing the English version 1. I also want to thank my friends and family for all their support. Finally I want to thank my parents for allowing me to make my own choices in life and for always supporting me to materialize them. This is the only page he didn t get to edit and this is probably quite noticeable. 6

7 Introduction Definition of the central question The emigration movement to the United States constitutes one of the most remarkable events of the 19th century. Between 1820 and the First World War the movement numbered about 30,000,000 people. Most emigrants came from Europe. Germany, Ireland and England provided the bulk of these emigrants between 1820 and The part played by Belgians in this movement remained very limited. However during the 1840 s most of the socialeconomic and political factors were present to trigger such movement in Belgium. The king Leopold I was an outspoken supporter of emigration. He sought a way to increase his power and his territory. During the 1840 s the king hoped to found a colony somewhere overseas. Leopold I could count on the assistance of the liberal politicians who shared his desire to expand the territory based on economic motives. They hoped to open new markets through the colonisation of new territories. The liberal politicians also wanted to stimulate emigration because they considered emigrants as valuable go-betweens to promote the Belgian products abroad. For the first time since the foundation of Belgium in 1830, a homogeneous liberal government under the leadership of Charles Rogier took power in This liberal politician tried to implement an active emigration policy. In Belgium the 1840 s are automatically associated with the major rural crisis which struck the Flemish countryside. The young nation went through a very difficult period in the social-economic field. Flanders did not seem to be able to recover from the slump causing a constant increase of indigents. The belief that the overpopulation of Flanders constituted the cause for the structural crisis spread. At this time Belgium already had a very high population density compared to other countries. More and more people started to support the idea of conducting an active demographic policy. Emigration was regarded as the ideal outlet for the surplus of population. Moreover Antwerp being a flourishing emigration port offered the ideal gateway to start this movement. The Belgians had to and would follow the example set by the German emigrants who had started to emigrate via Antwerp after the blockade on the Westerschelde was lifted in 1839 and settle successfully in the United States. The U.S. represented the Promised Land to many where cheap and fertile lands were abundant, where the wages were four to five times higher than in Belgium and where hardly any restrictions on immigration existed. 2 M. BENNET, American immigration policies: A history, Public Affairs Press, Washington, 1963, pp

8 In spite of all these positive factors a large scale emigration movement failed to occur. Only towards the end of the century would an increasing amount of Belgians cross the Atlantic. Even then the total Belgian emigration to the United States remained very limited compared to other countries. No more than 29,000 Belgians settled in the United States in the 19 th century. This is very little in comparison to other countries like the 40,000 emigrants from Luxemburg, the 94,000 from the Netherlands, the 115,000 from Switzerland, the 153,000 from Denmark, the 582,000 from Sweden and the 2,500,000 from Germany 3. Only after 1900 until the First World War the emigration movement picked up a little when approximately 50,000 Belgians moved to the U.S 4. This non-event leaves us with the intriguing question: Why didn t the Belgian emigrate? It took long before the question was subjected to a thorough study. Claude Fohlen rightly pointed to the lack of research concerning the Belgian emigration movement to the United States 5. After 1967 the topic got broached by different people following the international investigation tendencies. They studied mainly the demographical and social-economic aspects of the Belgian emigration. The research of Schepens, Kurgan-Van Hentenryk, Stengers, Vandepitte and Verrijken have analysed the magnitude, development and causes for the emigration movement and the origin and destination of the emigrants (Schepens, 1973; Kurgan-Van Hentenryk, 1976; Stengers, 1978; Verrijken, 1982; Vandepitte, 1988). Jean Stengers in particular studied why the emigration why the Belgian oversees emigration remained so low. Stengers claimed that the internal migration and the border emigration to France were the main reasons for the nonevent. He also blamed the lack of organisation regarding overseas emigration by the state and charity institutions. Moreover the Belgian in general was too attached to his country to emigrate 6. What attracts the attention regarding the studies about Belgian emigration is the distressing lack of comparative studies. Poland for instance always had an important border emigration to Germany and nevertheless after 1880 an important emigration movement to the United States came about 7. A comparative study with the Polish emigration movement could throw light on new aspects. Also a comparative study with Germany which in the field of emigration served as the best example to follow for many Belgian supporters of emigration until the First World War remains open for investigation. Only Annabelle Nuytens has 3 J. Stengers, Emigration et immigration en Belgique au XVIII et XIX siècle, Bruxelles, Académie Royale des sciences d outre-mer, 1978, p K. SMETS, Belgians in the United States: a guide to information sources, 1990, C. FOHLEN, La América anglosajona de 1815 a nuestros dias, Barcelona, Editorial Laboro, 1967, p J. STENGERS, op cit., pp W. THOMAS and F. ZANYECKIE, The polish peasant, Chicago University press, 1919, 2346p. 8

9 compared the Irish emigration movement to the Belgian one. She describes how a crisis triggered a true exodus in Ireland while a similar crisis in Belgium failed to spark emigration. The findings of Nuytens regarding this non-event point to a lack of organisation in Belgium. In Ireland mostly religious institutions took care of the emigrants leaving the country and guided them to their new home, while in Belgium the Church kept away because it disapproved of the movement 8. However the Belgian Church provided the United States with many missionaries to spread the catholic faith. A special American College was even founded in Belgium with the specifically purpose of instructing missionaries how to serve in North-America 9. A thorough study regarding the influence of the Belgian Church on the Belgian emigration movement still needs to be made. This licentiate s thesis written under the guidance of Eric Vanhaute, professor at the University of Gent a close look was taken at the influence of the Belgian government on Belgian emigration before the First World War. In what way did the Belgian government contribute to the organisation of the Belgian emigration? Linda Maesens researched the interference of the government concerning the emigration to Latin-America through Antwerp (Maesens; 1978) 10. She mainly studied Royal decrees and laws passed by the government to organize the emigration movement through Antwerp. The policy of the Belgian government regarding the Belgian emigration movement was barely discussed in this thesis. Only Luc Schepens described briefly the attitude of the Belgian government towards the Belgian emigration movement before This thesis will go more deeply into the interference of the Belgian government with the Belgian emigration. The most important point for the Belgian emigration policy came in 1856 when Charles Vilain XIII, minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, laid down the non-intervention policy towards emigration. The government would not intervene into the Belgian emigration, not encouraging it nor slowing it down. Government responsibility for emigration was limited to protecting and informing emigrants. This constituted the official standpoint of the government until the First World War. That such an important issue as emigration policy remained unchanged for nearly seventy years is remarkable. Especially considering the fact that many Europeans emigrated during that time and most of them chose the United States as a final destination. This research 8 A. NUYTENS, Ierland: 19 e eeuwse exodus naar Noord-Amerika vergelijkende studie met België, Leuven, K.U.L., (onuitgegeven licenciaatsverhandeling),1995, p P. SABBE en L. BUYSE, Belgians in America, Uitgeverij lannoo, Tielt, 1960, pp L. MAESENS, Regeringsbemoeing in de organisatie van de emigratie via Antwerpen naar Latijns-Amerika , RUG, Gent, 1978, p

10 tries to give an answer to a number of questions: What led the government to chose the nonintervention policy? The existing literature mainly puts forward the failure of the colony in Santo Thomas de Guatemala. Is this true? What were the repercussions of this decision on Belgian emigration to the United States? The government officially upheld the nonintervention policy, but did it ever decide to act otherwise off the record? Would the government therefore ever exercise any influence on the emigration movement again? Has the emigration policy ever been questioned? What were the opinions of the different political ideologies towards emigration? What influence did the American immigration policy have on Belgian emigration? Emigration is inextricably bound to immigration. Nevertheless in the existing literature Belgian emigration is often viewed from a one-sided standpoint. The research mainly focused on events taking place in Belgium which may have influenced the emigration without taking into account events which influenced the immigration in the country the emigrants move to. Based on the correspondence between the Belgian consuls in the U.S. with the Belgian minister of Foreign Affairs the events taking place in the United States which weighed on the Belgian emigration policy and emigration movement will be discussed. Moreover the investigation proves that the Belgian emigration movement was determined by the emigration flow of other European countries via Antwerp to the United States. On the other hand the research demonstrates that some events regarding Belgian emigration influenced the American immigration policy. This study also points out that although the non-intervention policy was officially followed from 1856 till 1913, unofficially the government did not always follow this policy. Many decision of the government which not directly deal with emigration had an important influence on the movement. Sometimes these decisions had a stimulating effect while others slowed the movement down. The different Belgian governments were aware of the effect of their decisions. In particular the way the government dealt with its responsibility to inform and protect Belgian emigrants, influenced the emigration across the Atlantic. During the period of the non-intervention policy the position of the government was repeatedly questioned. In particular during the crisis of the 1880 s that issue was debated about. However the main characteristic of this research regarding the governmental decision making towards the Belgian emigration to the United States is that the Belgian emigration policy would be determined by the commercial interests of the port of Antwerp. 11 L. SCHEPENS, Van vlaskutser tot Franschman: Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis van de West -Vlaamse 10

11 Source and method Many scientific studies regarding the Belgian emigration to the United States analyse the movement based upon the interpretation of figures. These studies prove the difficulty of interpreting figures which are at the hand (Stengers, 1978; Schepens, 1973; Kurgan-Van Hentenryk, 1976; and Verrijken, 1982). However the figures are not of a substantial importance for this research. The study is concerned predominantly with trying to show how the government outlined its emigration policy and how it implemented it. Considering the fact that the official guideline on emigration did not change from 1856 on, the research did not centre itself on the official governmental publications Receuils Consulaires and Annales Parlementaires 12. The research is based upon the correspondence of the minister of Foreign Affairs with the different consuls and officials in the United States and the different Belgian authorities which were involved, in order to create an image of the decision making and the unofficial point of view regarding the emigration policy. The archives of the ministry of Foreign Affairs are divided into a Diplomatic Archive and an African Archive. The Diplomatic Archive is once again split up into political files and economic files. It is regrettable that the inventory of the archive was not accessible to the investigators. One is dependent of the archivist who, after taking note of the topic of your research decides which files may be interesting for the investigation. This is far from being an academic method. Fortunately Leblicq-De Champ published a book which among other sources discloses the files concerning Belgian-American history lying in the archives of the ministry of Foreign Affairs 13. It allows one to decide for himself which files are important for Belgian-American research. However it must be pointed out that files concerning the port of Antwerp which are relevant to the Belgian emigration to the United States are not all included in the book. Files were often classified randomly. Some times the description of a file can be misleading about what the file contains. In the General State Archives some files of minor importance for this study, mainly of the State Security concerning emigration, can be found. This archive was useful for the chapter concerning the subsidized emigration of beggars, convicts and explattelandsbevolking in de 19e eeuw, Brugge, West-Vlaams Studiebureau, 1973, p translated: Consular Bundle and Parliamentary Annals 13 F. LEBLICQ- DE CHAMP, Guide de sources de l histoire et des relations belgo-américaine conservées en Belqique , Brussel, Commission of educational exchange between USA, Belgium and Luxemburg, 1977, 183p. 11

12 convicts. For the same reasons the Provincial State Archive and the City Archive of Antwerp proved to be very relevant. All the Belgian publications regarding emigration produced before the First Word War have also been analysed to illustrate contemporary ideas about emigration. These ideas have been compared with the emigration policy of the government. The archives of the ministry of Foreign Affairs also include many pamphlets from different organisations which were intended to stimulate emigration. The way the government dealt with the propaganda also revealed interesting insights. Finally many previous investigations about the Belgian emigration to the United States have been of great use. Especially the studies of Balace, Schepens, Boumans and Spelkens (Schepens, 1973; Spelkens, 1976; Balace, 1967 and Boumans, 1965). Unfortunately there are two important studies that I haven t been able to localise: Propaganda en voorlichting met betrekking tot de Belgische overzeese emigratie and Belgische uitwijking en landbouwkolonisatie naar de Verenigde Staten en Texas These two licentiate s thesis of Vera Van Coillie and Gudrun Van Branden which were written under the guidance of professor Everaert, are no longer present at the University of Gent. Attempts to contact professor Everaert about a possible location for these theses have remained unanswered. Delineation of the time frame During the 1830 s the emigration movement from Germany, known as Auswanderung originated. Together with Ireland and England, Germany would provide most of the immigrants entering the United States. This period from 1820 till 1880 is known in the United States as the Free Period regarding emigration. During that time span no federal laws restricting immigration were imposed 15. The German emigrants embarked at Hamburg and Bremen. Through these two German ports the emigrants joined the New world. It didn t take long before some Germans found their way to the port of Antwerp and began to use it as a gateway to the United States. In 1842 a well organised movement began. This attracted the attention of the Belgian government because of the commercial interests it entailed. The protection of the commercial interests of the port of Antwerp, in which the transport of emigrants was becoming more and 14 translated: Propaganda and information concerning the Belgian emigration to the United States. and The Belgian emigration and agricultural colonisation to the United States and Texas between M. BENNET, op.cit., p

13 more important, largely determined the Belgian emigration policy. Another factor which arose the attention of the government for emigration, took place at the same moment. In 1842 the consequences of the crisis in the Belgian flax industry became alarming. Shortly after crops failed and epidemics started to break out which disrupted the Flanders area. These events lead to important debates on how to resolve the structural crisis. The high population density of Flanders was seen as the basic problem for the structural crisis. Emigration was increasingly regarded as the ideal outlet for the surplus population. The commercial interest of Antwerp and the active emigration policy implemented as an outlet for the crisis would play an important role in the Belgian emigration policy. Therefore 1842 has been chosen as symbolic year to delineate the beginning of the investigated period. The year 1914 used to delineate the end of the investigated period is more evident. The First World War marks the end of whole era. During and after the war the emigration from Belgium and the immigration into the United States underwent major changes. From the start of the conflict the Belgian government tried to discourage emigration to keep as many compatriots as possible within the borders for the future reconstruction of the country. The government realized that overseas emigration left few prospects for an eventual return to the country 16. This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part goes from 1842 till 1883 and the second from 1883 till In both parts a crisis initiates major discussions regarding emigration. The overpopulation of Belgium is put forward in both periods as main reason for growing poverty. These two periods also largely coincide with the two main immigration periods into the United States. During the first period, the so called Free Period, the Americans mainly tried to lure farmers to populate the uncultivated lands. In Belgium the politics were mainly dominated by the liberal wing between 1842 and During this time span the emigration movement increased during the 1840 s and 1850 s but decreased during the following two decades. The second period coincides with the second industrial revolution which caused an industrial crisis in Belgium in the 1880 s. This crisis heralds the start of the second period. From this moment on, more and more labourers crossed the Atlantic. This period coincides with the so called Restrictive Period of immigration in the United States. The restriction policy was especially true for the older northern and eastern states. The southern states still had to deal with an economic decline after their loss in the Civil War. The 16 P. TALLIER, "Belgische vluchtelingen in het buitenland" in: A. MORELLI (red.), Belgische emigranten, Berchem, Epo, 1999, pp

14 abolition of slavery had disrupted the traditional plantation system in the south. This region tried to attract emigrants to fill the gap in the labour force created by the abolition. In the meantime he politics in Belgium looked very different compared with the previous period. Discord in the liberal party gave way to the dominance of the catholic party. We also see the rise of the socialist party. Finally during the 1870 s the Red Star Line was founded. This shipping company made the port of Antwerp flourish again. Part I: Belgian emigration to the United States: Chapter I: The causes for the active emigration policy to the U.S.A. by the Belgian government 1.1) The rise of German emigration through the port of Antwerp Between 1820 and 1880 approximately 3,052,000 Germans emigrated to the United States 17. During this period the Germans made up the largest group of immigrants entering the U.S. Initially this emigration flow went through the German ports of Bremen and Hamburg. It didn t take long before Germans of the eastern and southern parts of Germany found their way to the Belgian port of Antwerp. Not only was it a faster way, it was also a cheaper way to get to their destination. The businessmen in Antwerp were aware of the important profits that transportation of emigrants offered. Until the start of the emigration flow ships were leaving Antwerp for the U.S.A. with cheap shipments that yielded only small profits. The prospect of replacing this cargo with emigrants promised to enlarge the profit margins significantly. The governor of Antwerp, pointed out to the Belgian government that this commerce could produce a lot of advantages for the Belgian economy 18. The port of Antwerp reopened in When Belgium gained its independency in 1831 the Netherlands refused to recognize it and blocked the access of the port to the North Sea. In 1838 William of Orange was forced to accept the treat of Twenty-four Articles and finally signed it in The treaty implied the Dutch recognition of Belgium as a nation and allowed the Belgian authorities to free up the access from Antwerp, through the Westerschelde to the North Sea. This put an end to M. BENNET, American immigration policies: A history, Public Affairs Press, Washington, 1963, p E. SPELKENS, Belgian migration to the United States and other overseas countries at the beginning of the 20th century in: Emigration through Antwerp into the new world, Centre for American studies, 1976, p

15 years of constant barriers against the port 19. Immediate actions were taken by the local and national authorities to revive the commerce through Antwerp. The Belgian government picked up on the advice of the governor about the prospect of profits resulting from the transport of emigrants. The minister of the Interior, Bartholomeus de Theux, realized that new laws should be put in place to regulate this traffic. He ordered Désiré Behr to travel to Bremen, one of the biggest emigration ports of the time, to investigate what measures were taken there 20. Behr reported about the way emigrant transport was organized in Bremen and confirmed that high profits were made with this traffic 21. Based on this report the governor of Antwerp together with the Chamber of Commerce of Antwerp drafted a proposal for a bill. It included the matters that urgently needed to be regulated: the food supply for the trip, the inspection of the ships and health standards. The government however never passed the bill 22. In the meantime the German emigration flow through Antwerp increased. Part of the reason for this was the establishment of a regular shipping line between Antwerp and New York in 1840 financed with grants from the Belgian parliament 23. In 1841 a total of 3792 emigrants travelled from Antwerp to the New World. The following year the number of emigrants rose to The same year the governor of Antwerp urged J.B.Nothomb, the minister of Foreign Affairs to pass the bill. On March 14 th the bill got passed and signed by the King. This set the base for the regulation of emigration through Antwerp 25. From this moment on the government, in cooporation with the Chamber of Commerce of Antwerp worked hard, to lure mainly German emigrants to Antwerp. In 1842 the navigation board of the port urged the completion of the railroad that connected Antwerp with 19 From the port of Antwerp flourished and became one of the most important European ports. From 1550 onwards the port underwent a decline because of the unrest in the region due to the Reformation and Contra reformation. This led to an upraise, violently put down by Philips II. It led to a break up of the United Provinces in an independent northern part and a southern part under Spanish rule. As a result of this the port of Antwerp saw its access to the North Sea blocked from 1585 till Under Dutch rule the blockade weakened but got implemented again from 1830 till 1839 because of the refusal of the Dutch king to recognize Belgium s independency. With the signing of the Twenty-four Articles all restrictions on the port of Antwerp were lifted. 20 E. SPELKENS, op cit., p Note from Behr to the Department of Foreign Affairs, A.M.B.Z., Catalogue par matières, Emigration, nr. 2020, dl. I, Emigration E. SPELKENS, op cit., p A. VERTHE, 150 jaar Vlamingen in Detroit, Tielt, Lannoo en Vlamingen in de wereld, 1983, p Tables concerning the immigration mouvement to Belgium and emigration flow from Belgium , A.M.B.Z., Catalogue par matières, Emigration, nr. 2946, dl. III, Renseignements et documents fourni à la commision du travail E. SPELKENS, op cit., p

16 Cologne 26. The Department of Foreign Affairs ordered the Belgian consuls in Germany to bring the bill to the knowledge of the German population. This was done to promote Antwerp as an emigration port. The Belgian Consul in Frankfurt, J. Mulhens was ordered to set up a huge promotion campaign 27. In May and June 1844 he published big pamphlets in local newspapers several times. These pamphlets advertised the advantages the port of Antwerp offered. Similar campaigns were also set up by the consuls of Cologne, Nuremberg, Kassel and Leipzig. The government also negotiated with the railroad companies to obtain discounts for emigrants. In 1843 the director of the railroad company conceded the free transport of the entire luggage carried by Germans who crossed Belgium on their way to America 28. In 1846 a discount of 30% on train ticket was given 29. The keen competition with the other emigration ports Bremen, Hamburg, Le Havre and Rotterdam made this necessary. Often the German press published articles about abuse occurring in the Belgian port. Some accusations were based on truth while others were totally fabricated. The articles were designed to discredit Antwerp. The German authorities and businessmen hoped to convince Germans to use their own national ports Bremen and Hamburg. Belgian consuls in Germany were ordered to combat these allegations in the press when such smear campaigns arose. To prevent abuse that might harm the reputation of the port the government named Thielens in 1846 as emigration inspector. Thielens gave up his position as secretary of the cabinet of the governor in Antwerp to be able to fulfil his new assignment 30. He served thirty years as emigration inspector. His task consisted of protecting the emigrants and handling their complaints. His office in Antwerp served also as an information centre. Antwerp was the first emigration port to have someone appointed by the government to protect emigrants 31. The German emigration flow, the so called Auswanderung, through Antwerp made the Belgian government aware of emigration. The commercial advantages attached to it were of a great importance. This explains why the government would use all its means to protect this 26 Letter from the governor of Antwerp to the MFA. 22/6/1842, P.R.A., Provinciaal Bestuur, Emigratie, nr. 273, dl. I, Landverhuizers - kolonies Letter from the DFA to Mulhens 18/4/1844, A.M.B.Z., Catalogue par matières, Emigration, nr. 2020, dl. I, Emigration Letter from the director of the railroad company to DFA 9/12/1843, A.M.B.Z., Catalogue par matières, Emigration, nr. 2020, dl. I, Emigration Letter from the DFA to the governor of Antwerp 25/6/1846, A.M.B.Z., Catalogue par matières, Emigration, nr. 2020, dl. I, Emigration J. EVERAERT, "Landverhuizers op doortocht: Antwerpen en de transatlantische emigratie" in: JALON Rita (red.), Landverhuizers: Antwerpen als centrum van komen en gaan, Antwerpen, Uitgeverij Pandora, 2002, p L. MAESENS, Regeringsbemoeing in de organisatie van de emigratie via Antwerpen naar Latijns-Amerika , RUG, Gent, 1978, p

17 trade. The Auswanderung would also serve as an example, to encouraging Belgians to emigrate and form colonies during the big economic crisis midway through the 19 th century. The assignment given to baron Auguste Vanderstraeten-Ponthoz to explore the possibilities that the U.S.A. offered proves this. The crisis would cause the Belgian government to use a pro-active emigration policy. 1.2) The big rural crisis The crisis broke out in different sectors and took different shapes. It affected the Flemish rural area particularly strongly. The crisis started in the flax industry and spread out to different sectors. The main causes for the crisis were the spread of the mechanical cotton industry and the lowering of French customs duties on flax products in Because of this Belgium lost the French market to England where cheaper linen was produced due to the mechanization 32. The Belgian flax industry collapsed at the beginning of the 1840s. Many hundreds of thousands of the rural population, mainly from East- and West Flanders lost an important part of their income. Many families didn t earn enough to survive which caused a significant increase in the number of inhabitants that required support from the local authorities. The crisis was not limited to the flax industry. In 1844 the agricultural sector was struck. The harsh winter of ruined most of the wheat and rape crops. A lot of farmers decided to switch over to the cultivation of potatoes. The same year the potato crop was hit by a mold, phytophthora infestans, that affected the potato plant. Almost the entire harvest was destroyed. The potato plague continued till In 1846 the rye crop was also struck with a disease that spread and affected other crops. This caused a food shortage 33. It didn t take long before epidemics started spreading among the weakened population. In 1846 a typhoid epidemic broke out and dragged on for a few years. Two years later cholera broke out in Antwerp and spread to other cities. The disease struck the hardest in the provinces of East-Flanders, Liege and Hainault. It caused the death of approximately 23,000 Belgians 34. Along with the increasing poverty, the crime rate rose. Many smaller crimes were committed with the intention of being incarcerated in prisons or in poorhouses. It was an act 32 L. SCHEPENS, Van vlaskutser tot Franschman: Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis van de West -Vlaamse plattelandsbevolking in de 19e eeuw, Brugge, West-Vlaams Studiebureau, 1973, p D. MUSSCHOOT, We gaan naar Amerika: Vlaamse landsverhuizers naar de nieuwe wereld , Tielt, Uitgeverij Lannoo, 2002, p

18 of desperation to get their hands on food. Others joined beggar gangs. Together they roamed the country and stole to survive. 1.3) Emigration as a solution for the crisis 1.3.1) The report of baron Auguste Vanderstraeten-Ponthoz To investigate the commercial advantages some countries presented, the authorities financed exploration missions. In 1842 the State ordered mister Deconinck to travel to the United States to examine the possibilities the country offered for commerce. He travelled through the country for six months from April till October 35. Two years later a similar mission was trusted to baron Auguste Vanderstraeten-Ponthoz, secretary of missions in Washington, but now the emphasis was put on the possibilities the country offered for emigration. Goblet, Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time, made this clear in a letter addressed to the baron: I have the honour of charging you with a journey of which the purpose is to investigate the matter of emigration to the United States, and to examine at the same time the opportunities and means the country offers for Belgian trade 36. The baron received five essential questions that needed to be answered. (1) What advantages does the American government offer to attract emigrants? (2) How are the colonists doing that settle in the country and what are their moral and material condition? (3) Where did they settle? Why? What is the influence on the trade relations between the country of emigration and immigration? Do the emigrants still have ties with their home country? What are the consequences for commerce? (4) What is the best place for Belgian emigrants to 34 L. SCHEPENS, op cit., p A.M.B.Z., Catalogue par matières, Missions et explorations, nr. 2013, Letter from the M.F.A. to Vanderstraeten-Ponthoz 15/4/1844, A.M.B.Z., Catalogue par matières, Emigration, nr. 2020, dl. I, Emigration

19 settle for their own good and for the good of the trade relations between Belgium and the United States? (5) In what way does the Belgian government need to intervene in Belgium and in America? Could the government in collaboration with the American government, regulate the emigration to protect the emigrants and to make this movement as efficient as possible. During the summer of 1845 the baron delivered a 195 page report to J.A.Goblet 37. His work had a big impact on people s expectations about what possibilities the U.S.A. offered to immigrants. Forty years later the baron s report would still be used as a reference for new publications. Vanderstraeten-Ponthoz concluded that emigration for the emigrant himself could be profitable, but didn t expect emigration to enhance trade between the two countries much. Big German and English populations had already settled in America. They were important enough to influence the American government that controlled the trade. Vanderstraeten-Ponthoz predicted that the Belgian population in the U.S.A. would never reach significant enough numbers to rival with the Germans and the English. The well-being of the emigrants in the northwest area proved the potential the country held. The region prospered due to a favourable climate, a fertile soil, the existing waterways that facilitated the trade and the home-industry 38. The government also contributed to the prosperity. The law for naturalisation allowed immigrants to obtain American nationality after five years. Thanks to naturalization they acquired political rights which enhanced their social status. On top of that the American government put big lots of land at the disposal of its inhabitants through public sale every year. Those were sold at very low rates. Every American or immigrant could acquire a piece of land 39. One didn t need as much capital in the United States as in Belgium, however if you remained without capital, you would keep on living in miserable conditions according to the baron. Vanderstraeten-Ponthoz described five different ways that immigrants used to organise their community. The first way, the commune, based on the traditional European model, didn t fit in well with the American way of life according to him. A second way of organizing a community consisted of buying land from corporations of stockholders. This implied that immigrants would be exposed to the risk of becoming victims of speculation. A third possibility was to join a religious or a philanthropical association. These lured 37 A.VANDERSTRAETEN-PONTHOZ, Rapport sur un voyage d'exploration dans les Etats-Unis d'amérique du Nord, 1845, 195p. 38 A.VANDERSTRAETEN-PONTHOZ, op cit., pp A.VANDERSTRAETEN-PONTHOZ, op cit., pp

20 immigrants by offering benefits such as schools, churches, mills, etc. On the other hand immigrants were confronted with the disadvantage of being tied to certain rules. These were put together depending on the purposes of the association. Other immigrants opted for, or ended up in isolated territories separated from fellow compatriots. These individuals or families tried to manage on their own. Most of them tried to get a job in the bigger cities first until they saved enough money to enable them to buy land. Immigrants that belonged to this category originated mainly from, Aalst (Belgium), Luxemburg, the Lorraine region, Franchecomté, Elzas and Switzerland 40. The baron met them across the whole country. They bought farms amidst Americans who exploited them. This occurred most frequently when they first arrived when their grasp of English was still poor. They were charged more every time they bought something. Finally the baron mentioned a way of settling which was in accordance with the American social structures and way of life. He named it agglomeration. This national system grew out of the huge stream of immigrants that took things into their own hands and acted intuitively. The agglomeration ensured the immigrant freedom and opened up the best chances for succeeding in the venture. The baron favoured this system of organizing the community. The agglomerations that only enclosed one nationality functioned better than mixed ones. If compatriots wished to emigrate, the baron estimated that their chances of succeeding were much higher when they left their home country in group. Such groups did not have to fear settling in an agglomeration far away from the Atlantic coast. On the contrary it seemed that their opportunities to form a healthy and wealthy community increased the greater the distance from the Atlantic shores. The construction of railroads favoured the cultivation of vacant land in the interior of the U.S.A. This caused an increase of the total national production and opened up new markets. The baron predicted that those new markets would arise in the new frontier cities that were booming at that time 41. That is where the immigration stream directed itself. According to the judgement of Vanderstraeten-Ponthoz, immigrants who managed to acquire a wealthy position in the United States would not have a significant influence on Belgian-American trade. Nor did he expect Belgian industry to benefit from it. Immigrants 40 In the AMBZ. nr I, I found some letters dating back from 1834 concerning about sixty, rather wealthy families coming from the province of Luxemburg that decided to move to the U.S.A. because of the uncertain economical and political climate. 41 Those are Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Cincinnati, Saint-Louis and Buffalo. 20

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